Pros ta Empros
by katieonice
Summary: Max knew she could never live without Chloe. But she didn't know if Chloe could ever live with her. How will Max learn to live with the consequences of her choices, can the two girls learn to live in this new world, and will they sort through their baggage to truly understand each other?
1. Chapter I: Through the Blizzard

Pros ta Empros

Chapter I: Through the Blizzard

* * *

Max knew she could never live without Chloe. But she didn't know if Chloe could ever live with her. How will Max learn to live with the consequences of her choices, can the two girls learn to live in this new world, and will they sort through their baggage to truly understand each other?

This story will follow the cannon of Life Is Strange Season 1 closely, while using some trivia from Lis: BtS and LiS2. This story is a post-sab story set immediately after the events of Episode 5, so don't read this if you somehow got here without knowing the ending of the game.

* * *

The scene before us is terrible. There's chaos. The destruction of Arcadia Bay is unfolding right in front of us, and we're standing here just watching. How could we do anything else? There's nothing left to do but stand there, and wait. There were no shocked expressions left to make, no tears left to shed, no words left to speak. So we stayed where we were. It's terrible. My home, most of my life, and the entire lives of so many people are being torn apart. The only sounds are thunder, lightning, rain, and wind. I'm just... staring. After several minutes, I feel my legs start to give out, and I collapse onto my knees. Chloe tries to hold me up, but she ends up falling too, holding me in her arms. It's at this moment that I finally broke my stare, turning into Chloe's shoulder and burrowing my face. But again, no tears came.

What is wrong with me? Why can't I move? Why can't I do anything?

I think Chloe is trying to decide what to do next, or where to go, but no one could have possibly been prepared for the level of destruction in front of us. She tries to pick me up now, and I want to help but I just can't bring myself to move. That doesn't stop her from trying, though. I mean, I had to assume she recently carried me up this cliffside from the beach, seeing as I blacked out for most of it. So she kept pulling, and up I went.

After an uncomfortable silence, Chloe opens her mouth. "We can't stand in this rain, Max. I know the truck is still down near the beach, and it's probably safe from the storm, but it still wouldn't be a good idea for us to go down there. But we're going to get sick if we stay out here. Let's just… head inside the lighthouse?"

I try to say something, but no words come out. Instead, I look up at the lighthouse instead. The roof is still there. Wasn't that supposed to have been taken off by now? I shook my head, it doesn't matter. Chloe is right. We need shelter.

"No? Max, we can't stay out here. Come on, please," Chloe is practically begging, now.

"Not… you." I force out with a whisper. I turn towards the lighthouse entrance and start walking. I guess even if the roof did blow off, the staircase could provide some protection from the rain. We walk - or more accurately, stumble - towards the tower. Chloe pulls the door open, seemingly struggling to fight the wind, and ushers me to hurry inside. So I do. Immediately, I go to sit under the staircase on my left.

The door closes, and the sounds of the storm get a little quieter. I can tell that Chloe hasn't started walking because there are no footsteps. I can almost hear her judging me. Is she mad at me? Does she regret me picking her? I sure hope not. I can't lose her now. I can't believe that this is all happening. I spent so much time trying to save everyone, and now… they're all going to die. Either way, the silence doesn't last long. She walks over and sits next to me. She puts her arm across my back, and I can feel a little warmth return to me. I like that she sat so close, maybe her stall was out of pity instead of guilt? Either way, I'm enjoying the comfort, and I lean into her shoulder. We're both soaked, and we're shivering, but it doesn't matter. It's barely a problem.

For a while, nothing happens. So I'm left to think. Did I really make the right choice? Chloe is my best friend, after all. No one knows when it actually started. Yeah, I screwed up the last five years, but things were different now. After all, this all started with Chloe. Saving her had to be the right choice, why else would I have gotten these powers? Still, there is blood on my hands now. That… other me from my nightmares? She's right. I screwed up. I tried to save everyone and it cost me.

I start to lose it, because Chloe interrupts my thoughts by saying, "Hey, Max. I know it sucks just… try to breathe, okay?" I want to take comfort in those words, but I can't. With everything going on outside, she's masking her pain and is only concerned with me. Guilt surges through me. I'm a monster, I don't deserve this girl's sympathy.

Still, I owe her a response. I take in a deep breath, and try and form words, but the only thing that comes out is a pathetic, "Chloe…."

"I'm here, Max. Always here," she responds, rubbing her hand across my back. I want to ask what she's thinking and be there for her, but I can't. So I kept my head on her shoulder, unable to even cry.

I keep thinking that she's going to hate me for this. She's never going to be okay. I killed her family and ruined her life, all for… what? This feeling I get when I see her? Was it really worth hundreds of lives?

"Max, we're gonna… we're gonna get through this. We'll head into town as soon as the storm clears, there's no way everyone's gone. There's no way…``she trails off, seemingly running out of encouraging words. I know Chloe too well, she won't get through this without breaking down. And then right on cue, as if to spite me, she starts sobbing. I try to sit up, to comfort her, but all I do is move my hand to her thigh. She takes it with her free hand.

"Max, please, say something. I… I need to know you're there. Please." She continues, still crying in the process. It broke my heart. Or… shattered the pieces.

"Chloe… I'm so, so sorry." I whisper. And I am. I know that because I refused to listen to her, and instead tore up that photo, that we would now be stuck in this lighthouse for an unpredictable amount of hours. I can feel my anxiety worsening, I can just tell that the next day is going to be terrible. The silence drags on. Neither of us say anything for several minutes. The only way we acknowledge anything is periodically squeezing each others hands. It would be nice, if not for the context. It's a subtle reminder that at least one thing worked out as planned. It doesn't last too long though. Chloe pulls her hand from mine, and her arm from my back, forcing me to sit up.

"Listen, um, no good is going to come from the two of us just sitting here. We're still wet as fuck. So um… gimme your hoodie?" She holds her hand out, and to be honest, I'm confused. Still, I comply and hand her my hoodie. She walks over to the railing of the stairs, laying the jackets across the railing of the staircase. She pauses for a moment, then turns back around and sits down again. I don't know why, but she puts a little distance between us, and I can't help but feel hurt. Maybe she really is pissed at me.

Instead, she just pats her leg. "We should try and get some rest, despite all the noise. I know sleep is probably the last thing on our minds, but we're going to have a very, very large amount of shit to do tomorrow. Please, try and lay down?"

I'm… surprised. She seems to be handling this all relatively okay, despite the sobbing earlier. Or, more likely, she's forcing herself to pretend. For me. And I hate that. She's doing everything she can to make it better for me, as if I'm the one who needs protecting. I feel very confused, I don't really understand how I should be reacting. But her puppy dog eyes just eat through me even more. I lay down, resting my head on Chloe's lap. It's still damp, but there's nothing we can do about that right now. Chloe laid back against the wall, and I start staring off at the underside of the staircase. I don't think I'm going to be able to really sleep tonight. I guess I was only laying down to… appease Chloe? Give her some rest? Try and keep her from pushing me away? I try to piece together my emotions, but I feel more numb than anything else. I should feel something. After all, I just signed the death warrant for who knows how many people. Including Joyce… Chloe really won't be happy with me when she finds out I already know how she is.

I should have told her by now, I just didn't get the chance. No, that's not true, there was actually no time for any of the words we spoke. I'm just scared. Not that she'd believe me at first. She'd go into denial, demand we check it out, and then just… give up. That's when she'll walk away. How do you stay with the girl who knowingly killed your parents? If she really knew everything I've seen, she certainly wouldn't want to be with me anymore. And then, just like that, saving her would be worthless.

Not worthless. Bad Max. She still deserves to be happy. Even if it is without me. Even if I lose her again. Is that why I did it? Because I feel like I owe her a second chance? Or did I do it just because of this… idea that I have. I know I'm probably treading the same ground again, but still, I can't figure it out. I'm so lost in thought by now that I didn't realize Chloe had started running her fingers through my hair, dealing with the matted, rain-soaked mess. This simple action just kind of makes everything feel… a little better. I guess I'm not broken yet. I know I'm scared, and if Chloe and I made it out of here we'd need therapy for years, but how do we even talk about this? We'd say one word about time travel and end up in a mental hospital. I guess we'd have to take it a day at a time. We'd keep going, keep pushing back against life itself. We beat fate once, we can do it again. At that, I know my thoughts are getting more sluggish. Exhaustion has certainly peaked. When was the last time I slept? Did I have the body of 'photo jumping me' or 'lost to time' me? Shit, maybe that other Max really was left behind… Nevermind, I can't afford to think about the nightmare right now. I couldn't even judge based on hunger, because I've felt nauseous ever since I was in San Francisco. I guess I'll add it to the list of things to do tomorrow, figure out who the hell I am. Along with… Joyce… I really hope I will fall asleep soon.

* * *

When I open my eyes, it's quiet. I'm still cold. Shifting my weight, I saw Chloe staring down at me. She looks oddly content, for everything that had happened. I try piecing together my thoughts, but the only thing that comes is that there were no nightmares. Weird, any other time I would have woken up in a cold sweat. I'd feel relieved, but I'm honestly scared that they would just be back with a vengeance tonight. But I'll… worry about that later. For now, I had something a lot more important to do. I sit up quickly, surprising Chloe.

"Shit, Max, what's wrong?" She gasps, clearly concerned. "Was it a nightmare?"

"No, no nightmares," I respond quietly, clearly not having my voice back. I clear my throat and look back at Chloe. She looks… terrible. Between the dark eye bags, disheveled hair, and unkempt clothes, Chloe looked like she hadn't moved in days. But also, there is something in her eyes. The light hadn't gone out. I find relief in this, and find myself staring at her for a little too long. Despite looking like a complete mess, she's still Chloe. I figure I should say something, so I open my mouth. Without words, the only thing that comes out is, "how sleep?"

"Enough. Clearly, you need more of it."

Any other time, I would have laughed, but I realize now that Chloe fell asleep after me, and woke up before, so I have no way of knowing if she's being honest. I go to question her, but instead, I find myself looking up. The roof is gone. Shit. "It's.. day…"

"Yeah. And from what I can gather, clear and sunny. A nice 'fuck you' from the universe. First, the roof goes, and then when the storm clears it's just, 'all is good here.'" She ends the sentence muttering, turning her head to the ground. She looks like she's thinking, but doesn't hold the pose long before turning back to me. "Are you ready?"

"No. But I guess… we should try and help," I answer, my uncertainty shining through perfectly. The thing is, I don't know if anyone is left. Surely the storm couldn't have gotten everyone… right? But I think I know the answer to that. I did make this choice, after all.

"Well then, I guess our first move is to go see if the truck survived," Chloe says, mostly to herself. She stands up and offers me a hand. I take it. She pulls me to my feet. Almost on instinct, I wrap my arms around her. It doesn't take long for her to return the hug.

"Chloe… I…" I begin, my voice straining.

"I know, Max. I'm sorry. Let's just go. We'll figure it out." She responds, as if to say, 'yeah, it won't be okay, but what else can we do?' Chloe grabs our coats and tosses mine to me. It's dry, and I can tell her's isn't. I put mine on, since I'm still freezing, and we head outside. Chloe immediately tenses up, I assume from seeing the destruction. I couldn't bring myself to look.

"Fuck, man." Is all she says. I feel something turning inside me, but the tears still don't come. I feel a hand on my shoulder, and Chloe starts guiding us down the path. It's funny, the one tree is missing and the same log stack is gone. Of course nothing changed. Butterfly effect my ass. The universe has to be taunting me, I can hear it whispering, _'of course nothing changed it. Fate is fate, and Joyce and Warren are as good as dead.'_ I really wish I knew how to feel right now. I am more uncertain now than I had ever been. Truthfully, I don't think I would have left the lighthouse if not for Chloe. It's probably bad that my sole source of life seems to be Chloe right now. I don't think I'll be able to move once I tell her about the diner. I could probably mention it now. I really should rip the bandage off, or she'll find out later and be even more pissed.

"Hey, Chloe.."

"Holy shit Max, look! The truck's okay!" Chloe suddenly shouts, temporarily pulling me out of my train of thought.

"Oh, okay, good. So… the storm didn't really destroy everything." I murmur, desperately trying to convince myself. Oh, Joyce, please be okay.

"I really hope not," Chloe says, clearly losing the spark of joy from only a moment before. We climb into the truck, and Chloe revs the engine. We put seatbelts on, she makes sure the mirrors are all okay, and we drive off. It takes all of twenty seconds before we see the absolute destruction around us. 20 more, and I can't look out the window. Hundreds of negative thoughts swarm through my head, all centering on the guilt I'm feeling. I know the Two Whales diner is closer than Chloe's house, I don't have much time to tell her. To warn her. I know I stopped the diner from exploding, but I erased that time from existence. That probably means that I never saved them. I never even saved Alyssa and Evan, or the trucker and the fisherman. It was all for… nothing. I look at Chloe, she's lost in thought. If I do tell her, she's going to freak out. Bad. Who am I kidding, she's going to freak anyway. I sigh, and Chloe picks up on it.

"What's going through your head?" She asks me. I hate this. She still only cares about me. Why? I don't deserve this.

"Chloe… I was at the diner last night. While photo hopping." I begin, but the strength to continue fails me.

"What? Really? What did you see?" She asks. When all I do is sink into the seat, she panics. "Wait, is she… oh god… Max, what the hell happened?"

"I talked to her. She was scared, but okay. At least at that moment. But right before I got there...:" I choke up again. Fuck this. She deserves to know.

"No. Whatever happened there, it might not have happened now. You said before, so you saved her? Maybe it happened across the timeline. Or nothing bad happened to her at all. Butterfly effect, right? Maybe it went better." Fuck. She's clearly panicking.

"Chloe… I knew the lighthouse would collapse since Monday."

"What the fuck does that have to do with this?" She asks, clearly not understanding at first, before continuing with, "Oh. Shit. Well, who the fuck cares? We have to go to the diner. We have to check. I need to know" She pushes harder on the gas, now speeding through the road. She's swerving a lot, I could look up and see the extent of the damage, but I can't bring myself to do it yet. It's over. She's going to hate me now. I should have said it sooner, maybe last night. No, she would've run out of the lighthouse, I needed her to be safe.

"Oil tanker. I'm sorry."

"Max, I really want us to make it through this, but please be quiet right now. She'll be okay. There's no way she's gone. She can't be." There it is, the denial. The anger. The regret. I don't miss it, and it makes me feel sick. I did this to her...

"Chloe, please, let's-"

"Max, for the love of God, don't!" She shouts, and I recoil away. "Please. Just stop." The words cut through me. I know it's over. Anything I built up with her was gone. I pick my head up, and rest it against the window, finally taking in the horror around me. Two words stand out: whales and death. I immediately feel sick, but now looking at the horror is the new default state, and I can't look away. I ruined so many lives. So much pain, because of me. Because I was given powers I didn't want and made a choice I didn't want to make. The truck started to slow down, and I know immediately that we're there. Based on Chloe's sheer silence, I can tell that there isn't much of the diner left. I feel the last bit of hope in me disappear. If the explosion did happen, of course no one made it out. I could've told Chloe about this when jumping, outside of the party, but I didn't. Now, it's all over. Chloe stays quiet, and I still look out of the window. For some reason, the next thing that happens is Chloe putting her hand on my shoulder. I look over at her, seeing the destruction behind her, but I'm more focused on what's right in front of me.

The tears were everywhere, and Chloe looked… broken. She didn't scream or anything, she was completely quiet. But somehow, despite everything, she smiled. I couldn't help but smile back. It 's only for half a second, but there was nothing else to do. I shift in my seat, staring ahead, and Chloe puts her hand back on the wheel. The car starts up again, and we keep driving.

"Hey, is it okay with we stop first? I want to see if… anything made it back home." Chloe asks after what feels like the hundredth uncomfortable silence.

"Of course, yes," I whisper, still in a trance at the broken houses around us. Worse yet, the damage is only getting worse as we continue towards the center of town. It's terrible, there isn't a single untouched home in sight. It doesn't take long before we're in Chloe's driveway, and things don't look good. Windows are shattered, the garage door is somehow just gone, and a utility pole is resting across the roof. At least it wasn't another whale.

"Alright, let's… see if anything is salvageable." Chloe says as she starts walking towards the door, with no inflection to her voice. I follow close behind, and she stops as soon as she enters the front door. I put a hand on her shoulder, but I swear that she is somewhere else. Lost in thought, much like I had been for the past 12 hours. Her eyes are devoid of every ounce of hope that had made me feel something at the lighthouse, and I feel my heart skip a beat. Before moving, Chloe manages to whisper, "I'll check upstairs." She does just that, leaving me where I am. I could follow her, but I figure I'll just handle the downstairs.

I walk into the living room and look at the photos all over the floor. The glass door is shattered, and shards are everywhere from the broken TB to the kitchen stove. The swing set out back is gone, the end of the utility pole taking its place. The room to the right is almost entirely untouched, but it was bare since David had moved out earlier in the week. With nothing worth grabbing, I walk upstairs. Immediately, horror courses through me. The utility pole wasn't leaning against the house, it went through it. The entrance to the attic and the one-room next to Chloe's is gone, exposed to the sky.

"Chloe?" I call out, hoping she hadn't tried to climb into that room and fallen.

"Bathroom," is the only response I get. I walk forward, and the scene is just as depressing as the rest of today. Contents of the cabinets and shower were all over the floor, but it doesn't look like too much had spilled. Chloe is holding her towel and looking around the various bottles and products strewn across the floor. After a moment, she stands up with two bottles, one of which is her blue hair dye. She hands the other bottle - shampoo - to me. I grab it with shaking hands. Chloe is clearly in tears.

"You know, I really did want to leave this place. I hated it here. But now… I can't believe it's gone." She is sobbing, and it isn't pretty.

"I'm sorry, Chloe."

"Don't be. This isn't on you." She replies, wiping tears from her cheeks. I want to argue, to tell her that this is actually entirely my fault, but I say nothing. I don't want to make it worse for her, we can't argue about this now.

Chloe drops the dye behind her, startling me, and says, "come on. There's got to be something left in my room." We walk into it, and I'm surprised that her room isn't entirely gone. Yeah, the wall where her bed had rested and part of the roof was not spared the wrath of that damn utility pole, and part of the wall where the window was is gone as well, but Chloe is able to start pulling a few pairs of jackets, shirts, and jeans from the closet. I stumble over to the blue shelf next to her closet and find the CD I made for Chloe all those years ago. I place it in my bag, right next to William's camera, and take another look around the room. Chloe's laptop, tv, and music player are gone. So is anything else that was at that wall. I head Chloe sigh, and turn to see her holding a ruined picture of her and Rachel. The box it was from is in a now crushed box where the surviving half of her bed remained. She set down the photo and turned back to Max.

"Alright. I don't think there's anything left to find, or that I want to see. Let's get ready to go. I'm gonna check the kitchen for food we can take. Should have enough to last a few days. Meet me in the truck." Chloe instructs, and I kind of just stand there. Everything around me is so depressing, and I keep waiting for the moment the other Max shows up and pulls a 'gotcha' moment on me, but I don't think that's happening. This is real. I feel sick. I walk into Chloe's mom's room, painfully aware of Chloe's refusal to enter. When I open the door, is sight is not too different from the one in the bathroom. Everything is just scattered around, and the only things I see are the picture of Joyce, David, and Chloe and a broken necklace that had to have been the one Chloe made years ago. I pick up the picture and place it in my bag. I don't exactly know why, but I'm sure Chloe won't want to keep it, but I figure I'll just hold onto it anyway. I take one last look around and head back downstairs, painfully aware of the fact that this may be my last time in this house.

Chloe is leaning against the door of her truck, smoking a cigarette and refusing to look at the house. I walk around to the passenger side and get in, not sure if I should have said anything. Two minutes later, Chloe drops the cigarette. She stomps it out and gets in.

"Okay, so I think we have enough to make it, like four days. I don't really know what to do after that or where we're going. But we'll figure it out. Let's hit the road."

"Do you have any ideas?" I ask her, as we really don't have anywhere to go.

"No, not really. Um… Oh! Seattle. We… probably need the help."

"Chloe, I don't think I want them to see me like this," I say, turning my gaze to the storm.

"Max, they're probably worried sick about you. I know our phones are dead, so we can't really call them."

"I know but… Chloe, I'm a total mess."

"I think it'll be good for you to talk to your parents. Tell you what, we'll just start heading north since we don't have a different direction, and we can decide what to do as we get closer. Okay?"

I thought about it. I guess she's right. I don't really know why I don't want to go to Seattle right now. My guess is that I know my parents will see the guilt on my face, and I can't lie to them about what happened so it's better to just… not tell them. Not yet, at least. I'll call them as soon as I can. "Okay, Chloe. North it is."

The car starts up again, and we pull out of the driveway. I turn back as we start driving off, once again mentally apologizing for all the harm I caused. Chloe doesn't turn back, we just drive the way we came. The only thing Chloe does is make sure to turn away from the Two Whales, and I understand why. She's planning on running again. I don't blame her. The ride continues in silence for some time, and that only changes when Chloe reaches down to grab my hand. Had I not been zoned out, I probably would have responded. Or at least been flustered. But I only squeezed slightly, to let her know I'm here. After two more minutes, we get to see the heavily damages 'thanks for visiting' sign. Although there wasn't much to be thankful for.

Shortly after we passed the sign, Chloe pulls the truck over. The action is quick, and I fly forwards.

"Chloe?" I look over, puzzled. She isn't moving, just staring ahead. I reach out with my free hand and put it on her shoulder, and she immediately starts sobbing. It was probably the fourth time today. I continue from earlier, saying, "Chloe, I am so, so sorry. For all of this."

"It wasn't your fault, Max. You can't know it was," she says, still crying to herself. She uses her free hand as a cushion and rests against the steering wheel.

"But the storm happened because-"

"I know Max. You think your powers caused the storm, but we can't prove that. Storms happen. Yes, all the evidence points to your powers being a cause, but it just as easily could've been that both your powers and the storm were a consequence of something else. Please, stop blaming yourself." She picks her head back up, and I feel like I might be annoying her. "Even if the storm is your fault, it doesn't matter. Even if saving me caused this, you going back in time probably won't have played out the way it was supposed to, and the storm would have come anyway."

That one hurt. Chloe was only trying to help, but it still felt like she was saying, _'you still tried to play god, so you're fucked either way.'_ Chloe realized this and immediately turned away.

"I'm just saying… neither of us knows what the hell we're talking about."

"Chloe, I did this. I made the choice to save you. Oh God… I killed them all.." I whisper.

"Damnit Max. You didn't kill anyone. You didn't ask for to make those choices. If anything, I asked you to choose. I made you use your powers for dumb shit. If you want to blame someone blame me. Maybe I really am destined to die, and we're just putting off the inevitable." Her tears pick up, and she takes her hand from mine to cover her face. "Oh Max, I'm a fucking living apparition. What if we go to a new place, and the world still keeps trying to kill me? I'm not supposed to be here, am I?" She looks back up at me, and the pain in my chest grew larger than it had been all day.

For the first time, the tears come, and the damn inside bursts. My breathing picks up rapidly, and in moments I'm hyperventilating. I whisper, "sorry," and leave the truck. I killed them. I stumble to my knees, dry heaving. They're dead because of me. I broke Chloe.

"Fuck. Max? You there?" I hear Chloe say, meaning she followed me out of the truck, but I can't respond. The names fill my thoughts

"Max, please, listen to me. You have to breathe. In and-" The voice fades off. Warren. Joyce. Frank.

"Max!" The voice screams, but I don't listen. Alyssa, Evan, Dana.

"Stay with me, please!" What about Kate? Did her parents pick her up in time?

"Please!" What about Victoria? Did David get to her in time?

"Stay here, I'll be-" I screwed it all up, didn't I? The other me was right all along. Everything I worked for and it's gone now. Even Chloe will leave me, she can't pick up my pieces.

"-back. Here, take-" Fuck! Why? I just wanted to save them!

Something is wrapped around me, and I feel a bottle on my lips. I think it's water. I swallow without thinking, then spit more out. Swallowing hurts too much. It's all too much. I'm sorry Chloe, it was too much. I'm sorry.

"We made it. Just-" I didn't want to ruin this thing we may or may not have had, but there's no way I could make it work now. I screwed it up.

"I know the water-" How many people were crushed last night, or drowned in the floods?

"-head north, and find-" Warren tried to warn me, the storm was my fault, and he died because of it.

"-5 hours from Seattle, we'll-" What would my parents think when I told them I killed hundreds of people, ruined thousands of lives?

"-New life, together. I-" I took the lives of so many people. For one person. Can Chloe even live with herself?

"-leave you. Never." Chloe. God, I need her. I can feel her hand on my shoulder, and I now realize that she was in front of me, staring right into my eyes.

I force the word out. "Chloe?"

"Yes! I'm here, I promise," replies a voice of pure concern. I tried to take in a deep breath, but my lungs wouldn't allow it.

"Chloe… Sorry… sorry…" I start saying, still struggling to breathe. I don't know how many times the word left my mouth.

"Max, please, listen to me. It wasn't your fault. You didn't kill the." She was speaking in a very calm voice. I thought she was shouting?

"Chloe… I don't. Know what. To do." I was forcing each word out in a hiss, my breathing slowly returning to manageable.

"I know. I don't know either, but we'll figure it out. Together. I promise."

"Sorry… for this…"

"Max, these things happen. I kind of figured one of us would come out of this with a panic attack. Just didn't think I'd be trying to help."

"Thank. You." Every word hurt.

"Thank me later. Here, drink up." I took the water from her, glad we have any of it, and start drinking. After a moment, I hand it back to her and look down. I think I was okay. Chloe sets her hand under my chin. She asks, "Let's get out of here, okay? Can you stand?" Still so much care.

"Think so. Yeah." I whisper, struggling to stand. Chloe helps, and I'm in her arms. After a moment, I break the hug and look down at one of her coats, one she must have used to cover me with. I pick it up and turn to face her again. "Chloe…"

"Yeah?"

"Thanks. You're… are you okay?"

"Better now. Come on, Max, let's go." She wasn't trying to rush me, she was taking her time, but I could tell she really wants to get away from here. We walk back to the car, and I just slip inside and keep drinking the water. Damn, my throat is really scratchy. When Chloe sits down, I hold the bottle out to her knowing she also has not consumed anything in the last several hours. She holds up a hand to block, but mine doesn't move. Resigning defeat, she takes the bottle, and takes a few sips before putting it in the cupholder. It stupidly makes me almost happy, but it also doesn't last long.

"Chloe, just so you know, we really do have to be careful from now on. No more rewind," I say, not quite looking at her.

"I was hoping you'd say that. Don't worry, we won't need it. We've got each other." She looks over with a smile, and I can see some of the hope is back in her. Then, the smile drops. "And hey, thank you. I know it's horrible, and I shouldn't have asked, but… thank you."

I know what she's talking about. And I know what she means. She isn't saying, _'thank you for killing hundreds of people,'_ she's saying, _'thank you for saving me.'_ That simple sentence alone makes me feel that at least one thing turned out okay this week: Chloe didn't hate me for choosing her. Wow. Maybe I did assume too quickly that she would resent me. "Chloe, I promised you before, and I'll do it again, I am never leaving you."

Chloe didn't respond. There were no words for quite a while after that, just the sounds of the engine. Neither of us was touching the radio, we were just… going. After all, despite everything, going was all we could really do. We weren't now, but we have a chance to be okay. And we will, so we were pushing forward, through the storm, together. I reached over and took Chloe's hand again, offering support, and she squeezed back. The roads in front of us were peaceful. That didn't mean we would ever forget that the roads behind us were battered and scared, and I knew that the two of us were going to have to sort through a lot of baggage of the next few… who knows how long, but it would be okay. Probably. Because I had Chloe, and I was never going to lose her again.

* * *

_Author's note:_

Hey everyone, I just wanted to take a moment and do the whole, "thanks for taking the time to read" thing. I've never really written a story before, this is entirely new to me. Because of that, I would really appreciate any reviews of this story pertaining to pacing, plot, grammar, structure, and well… anything. No, this is not a one-shot. This will be updated over time, and I do have more of the story to tell. So stay tuned if you enjoyed it!


	2. Chapter II: Migratory Animals

Pros ta Empros

Chapter II: Migratory Animals

* * *

Max knew she could never live without Chloe. But she didn't know if Chloe could ever live with her. How will Max learn to live with the consequences of her choices, can the two girls learn to live in this new world, and will they sort through their baggage to truly understand each other?

This story will follow the cannon of Life Is Strange Season 1 closely, while using some trivia from Lis: BtS and LiS2. This story is a post-sab story set immediately after the events of Episode 5, so don't read this if you somehow got here without knowing the ending of the game.

After observing first hand the true destruction that seized Arcadia Bay, Max and Chloe begin their journey north.

* * *

It's been almost an hour since we got back on the road. Nothing has happened so far. We just keep looking forward, Chloe never having taken her eyes off the road. Mine, however, have been everywhere. From the road, to the mirror, to the pair of bright blue eyes in the driver's seat. We haven't said anything since we first left the town, but there was a hint of peace in the silence. Yeah, Chloe had to withdraw her hand to focus on driving because someone has been tailgating us for a few minutes now, and I can't really distract her from that. It was comforting and all, but also weird. Almost like the amount of pressure it took off my shoulder made me lightheaded. Oh well, it's probably nothing serious. Still, the silence is starting to get deafening.

"Hey, Chloe?" I start, with definite uncertainty in my words.

"What's up?" She asks, not looking over.

"What do we do after today?"

"I don't really know. I think we shouldn't worry about that now, though. We still have a lot of today ahead of us."

"But, how do we ever move on from what we saw?"

"We don't, Max. We just keep going."

I know she's right, and it sucks. We're… never going to be okay again. We'll never be who we were a week ago. Still… "as long as it's together."

"Forever." She looks over at me, smiling. I start to smile back, and the car hits a bump. A bad one. She swerves right, and slams on the breaks. The truck stops running. The car behind us never even slows down, instead swerving slightly to go left of us before speeding up. Asshole. Chloe's arm is stretched to the right, as if to stop me from flying forward. Kind of a silly action, given the seatbelts. She's looking at me now, probably because my heart rate is spiking again.

"Did we hit something?" I ask, panic seizing my voice.

"Fucking pothole, we're good. Are you okay?"

"Shaken up, but fine. Sorry for distracting you."

"It's my fault, I looked away."

"But-"

"Max, I won't spend the rest of my life arguing over which of us is worse. It was an accident. Let's keep going." She seems annoyed. I really should stop blaming myself, but she doesn't deserve it either. Guess we're both hypocrites.

"Sorry."

"You don't have to apologize, it's okay." She turns the key, but the engine only revs. "Fuck, not now." She tries again, it doesn't start. "Fuck, fuck, fuck."

"What happened?"

"I don't know, it just died. Maybe a loose wire? I'll check it out." She gets out, and I follow. Popping open the hood, she starts looking around the engine. I'll admit, I don't know much about cars, but I still don't want to just stand here.

"Anything I can do?"

"Uh… there should be a small toolkit in the bed."

"Alright, I'll grab it." I say as if there was anything besides grabbing it that would've been useful. Walking around the back, I look into the truck, and then remember how much of a miracle it was that the truck is even here. "Uh… There's only sticks and shit here."

"What? No, no, no…" She whispers, running around the other side of the truck. "Fucking wind, goddamnit."

"Chloe, it's okay, I'm sure we can figure it out."

"It really isn't fucking okay. I can't get basic tools anywhere, and that was not a normal fucking toolbox. Fuck."

"Oh, Chloe, I… I'm sorry."

She sighs, and just says, "no, it's okay. Just one more casualty."

I don't know what else to say, so I move on. "

"Well then… I know we're only about a mile out of Beaver. We can try and get help there."

"That's… a lot of walking. Fuck. We're not gonna be able to push the thing."

"What should we bring?"

"Water? A granola bar each? I don't fucking know."

"Okay, water it is. Look, we'll figure this out, it's just a pothole."

"We better. I'm not losing the truck too." This time the anger fades into just being hurt. It hurts me too. We really can't catch a break right now. I hope this isn't the universe continuing to punish us for being alive.

"We won't. Now let's get started, it won't be day forever."

We started walking towards the town. It was almost comical, the amount of cosmic punishment we were taking. But still, we were making progress. We had a lot to go, and we didn't have an end goal, but progress is progress. The walking went on in silence for a little, but I can't stand the silence. I decide to just piggyback on her last statement. "So, how much day time do you think we have left?"

"Hell if I know. What even is the time?"

I look up at the sun. "Probably around noon. Wow, and it feels like it's been forever since we woke up in the lighthouse."

"Yeah…" Chloe whispers. I guess it really hasn't been that long, but the half hour on the road of deafening silence really made me feel tired. "Then again, we also have no idea when we woke up, given how our phones died in the middle of the night. I hope someone got the messages we were trying to send…"

"How much did we do?"

"What? Oh yeah, you came back on the beach. We… or me and the… wait, what the fuck happens when you photo jump?"

"I… don't know." _I'm one of many Maxes you've left behind…_ the words echo in my ears. Was I just… erasing other versions of myself? What happened to the alternate timeline I left behind? I shake my head, I can't think about all this right now.

"Figures, I think your photo jumping is even weirder than your rewind is- er, was. Anyway, we didn't really do anything Thursday. I feel like shit for it, but were too busy being confused."

"We're still confused, I don't think we're any closer to understanding this stuff then we were Tuesday afternoon."

"And we likely never will learn. Anyway, you didn't know anything about why we were going home, so you were freaking out until I said you photo jumped. I told what you told me, about Nathan being a pawn of that Jefferson prick, and his kidnapping you. I couldn't tell what happened since you didn't tell me, so you got more confused."

"Yeah, about that… I do want to tell you eventually. Just… not now. I don't want to revisit it yet."

"Take your time, I understand you probably could not have handled any of that well. Past you couldn't even handle the idea of that prick being bad. I spent all night comforting you. Or, the other you. Guess you're… I don't know."

"More to think about after today. We actually have time to think." Even if so many people no longer can.

"I guess you're right. Now, the next morning we start thinking of ways to stop the storm. Joyce already isn't home, and I don't think of texting her or anything... But we did anonymously send David the info on the dark room. Then, we spent so long thinking about what the storm was, or why it was. You said something about Rachel. God, I still can't believe what Nathan did to her."

"I'm sorry about that, Chloe."

"We did all we could. We were so focused on research we kinda blanked until we actually saw the storm. Then the messages went flying, and we felt like shit. But the storm came so fast. I think they actually got the messages, but by that point everyone could see the storm anyway. We just thought, maybe hearing it from us would make them more likely to up and go. That went on for a bit, and you said we needed to go to the lighthouse. So we went, had to cut through the beach where you woke up. You were calling people the whole time, but phones were barely working. Only a few calls actually went through."

"But… I called Warren with no problem after getting out of the, uh…"

"As I said, some did go through. We got a hold of, uh… Warren first, way before it got close. He was in his truck at the time and said he'd stop at the diner. He never picked up… after that… uh, there was Justin… I don't think he made it either."

"Oh… no…"

"Someone named Brooke apologized for being kind of bitchy, and you two complained about being unable to reach Warren anymore. Her call dropped suddenly. Your friend Kate didn't want to hang up, you felt like shit when you said you had more people to try and reach. Oh, and you and that Victoria girl had a heart to heart, I think she said she was saved by David."

That was… huge news. I stopped walking for a moment. "Chloe, holy shit, that means David and Victoria were still in the dark room during the storm, and that they made it! But also that… I could have... told you to warn warren about the fire, Thursday night. Fuck."

She was quiet for a moment, thinking. "Max, you were in a hurry during the jump. I told you, I completely blanked on warning people. Do you know how many lives that cost?" Damnit, here we are blaming ourselves again.

"Chloe, stop. You're right about the blame wars. We both screwed up, but we did what we could. I may be able to time travel, but we aren't psychic."

She looks at me, and for some reason smiles. We start walking again. "It's good to hear you say that, Max. We really did what we could with this shitty hand. Plus, I did get a hold of Warren. He just didn't say where he was. That's why I was still holding on to hope when you told me about… everything."

"Hope is good Chloe. We can always hope. What happened with Kate?"

"Oh, yeah, her." She actually perked up, and I immediately felt some weight be lifted off my shoulders. "She got out earlier that morning, she's with her family right now. She's… heartbroken."

"So we know at least three people made it. I mean technically none of them were in the path of the storm, but still. Three survivors." I know three isn't a lot, but that's still three people I can actually see again. Even if two of them are kind of assholes. Well, not really. Victoria and David are troubled, but they can both be better. "Are you going to call David when we get the chance?"

"I… haven't thought about it. I guess… well, you did say he really did care. I guess I can let him know I'm okay, might… keep him from really losing it."

"I think you should. You need all the support you can get."

"I think we both do... " She looks down, but keeps walking. Right back to uncomfortable silence. It's almost becoming normal. I hate it. I look right, and see a river stretching down forever in both directions, and I can see houses on the other side. It feels weird seeing so many houses not damaged or broken, and we're not too far away from Arcadia Bay, yet. Things keep going wrong to slow us down. I guess the damage was just incredibly localized, which just adds to my list of questions about what really happened.

It was all something I truly believe I will never get answers for. I still don't know why I got these powers. I guess it was for a greater reason, which means I was supposed to use them. That's incredibly complicated though, as I can't shake the feeling that my powers and the storm are linked, there are far too many coincidences. Either my powers caused the storm, in which case I was given these powers to save Chloe. That's the only thing that made sense, because had I have gone back it would have invalidated the whole last week. And if that's true, why give me powers in the first place if the right call was just to do nothing with them? Which means that I was given these so the universe could teach me a lesson, and I guess I pissed some cosmic force off by instead continuously saving Chloe. Some lesson. That's also assuming that I only gained the powers Monday, because it's also possible that they were always there and I just didn't know. I still don't know.

I have so many questions, and they're just leading to more questions. I don't understand the point of everything, but I know it has to have something to do with Chloe. We found each other for a reason, and I was given the chance to save her for a reason. So either there's a greater purpose to all this, or it was just me being given a second chance with her. I know I can't waste it. No matter how difficult this is proving to be.

"Hey, Max, there it is! The main part of the town!"

"Jeez, has it really been that long?"

"We weren't that far from it to begin with. Now let's hurry up, we gotta get back on the road."

"Sure can't wait to spend the walk back." We hurry up, Chloe ignoring my sarcasm. But we both know that there isn't that much to be cheerful for right now. Except of course, I have her. I saved her. I just… have to focus on that. We step into the center of the small town, and Chloe and I spend a while just struggling to decide what to do. We decide our best bet is to just head into the nearest store for groceries.

Chloe immediately approaches the cashier, knowing we really don't have a purpose to buy anything. "Excuse me, sir. My friend and I had our truck break down about a mile down the highway. Do you know where the closest auto shop is?'

"Uh… yeah. I think... if you keep going down the highway, there's a small shop not far off the intersection."

"Thank you. Um…" Chloe looks around the counter for a moment. "I'm gonna buy this." She places a phone charger, because you can buy those in seemingly any store on the planet, on the counter.

"That'll be five dollars."

Chloe flips through her wallet and pulls out a 10 dollar bill. Funny, that's a touch more than 86 cents.

"Thank you, come again."

"You're welcome, I won't." She beams as she walks out of the store, muttering about how much a charger is.

I follow quickly, apologizing for Chloe's lack of companionship.

"Great. More walking, we're even further from the truck now," she fumes.

"It'll be okay, we'll get out of here soon enough."

"Whatever. Let's just keep going."

"Chloe, what's going on? You're… suddenly a lot less cheerful."

"Sorry, Max, I don't feel like giving a shit right now about putting on a happy face."

"What's going through your mind? Please, I want to try and help."

"Nothing. You are helping. Come on." She starts walking faster, clearly not willing to talk. I feel like shit now, because she won't talk to me, but there's not too much I'm going to be able to do. Might as well just wait to get to the mechanic shop. At least this walk won't be quite as long, and being in a city makes everything seem less barren than it is.

After a block or two, some guys pull out a side street and start following us closely. Dread surges through me, there's no way this ends well.

"He-ey sweethearts, where you heading?" It's some drunk ass college kid, I assume by the slur of his voice. I don't know for sure though, I refuse to look directly at him. Chloe actually slows down a step to be beside me, putting herself between me and them. Even now, Chloe is being Chloe. "Yo, Mike, they ain't answerin."

The other man, Mike, only says, "so? They can hear us." I immediately notice Chloe's brows starting to furl.

The first man continues his stupor, saying, "If you wanna ride somewhere, my buddy 'n I'll be happy to assist ya both. Can I get your names?"

Still, we say nothing. Chloe puts a hand on my shoulder, urging me to go faster.

"Stupid bitches, are ya deaf or somethin?"

Chloe has had it now, and she turns to face the man. "Speed up and fuck off, asshole."

"We're just tryna be friendly, you bitch."

"How about you go get real friendly with each other and leave us alone."

"Fine. Maybe your friend is actually friendly." The unnamed man puts his hand on my shoulder. Before I can shove it off, Chloe grabs his wrist and stops walking. She twists his arm, and he doubles over.

"Fuck. Off." She whispers.

Mike pushes Chloe back, shouting, "Fuck you, we did'n do nothin!" Chloe trips backward into a pole, and glares at the man.

The first guy is up again, glaring at Chloe. Then, he looks back at me. "Guess they just don't wanna be friends."

"Don't give a shit, this bitch is tryna fuck with us." Mike shouts as he walks towards Chloe, who has steadied herself.

"Guess we teach 'em a lesson then." The first one whispers, and walks towards me. I don't give him a chance to do anything, and kick him hard. He's down, unable to stand. Mike is even more pissed, and the dumbass pulls out a knife. Fuck, this is bad. He walks towards me, and Chloe pushes him back again. I'm panicking. Should I rewind, get us out of this? What if she gets hurt? Mike stands up again, and before I can process what Chloe does he drops his knife.

"Woah, what the fuck, you fucking psycho! Put that away!"

"Run." Chloe whispers. She's holding David's gun. I feel like I'm about to faint. The two guys run off quickly, and Chloe puts the gun back into her waistband.

"Chloe, what the fuck?" I shout at her. She starts walking again, and I match her pace. "No, listen to me Chloe. What the hell."

"He had a knife."

"You don't have a carrying permit!"

"Don't give a shit, he went for you with a weapon."

"He was drunk off his ass, were you going to shoot him?"

"All the more dangerous. If I had to."

"Chloe, no. No. We are not going around the country with a damn gun. I thought you were putting it back,"

"I never said that. In fact, I actually told the other you that I would bring it with me."

"So you remember that and not a damn charger or to charge your phone?"

"Oh shut up, I have it keep you safe. We can't rely on rewind anymore, and there are a lot of sick fucks out there like Nathan and Jefferson, and those two assholes. We can get a charger, I can't protect you with a nail file."

"I don't need you to protect me with a gun. As soon as you can, get rid of that."

"No, Max, I need it."

"Do you know how many times I've seen that gun, and ones like it, cause problems? This isn't a joke, Chloe." She says nothing in response. "Chloe, I'm serious."

"I am too. It can't be you saving my ass all the time. I don't have this on me to play with it."

"Doesn't change the fact that you'd be arrested for using it."

"No, but it's worth it if it saves your life."

"No, it isn't. Not if it takes you from me."

"There's no point in some fucker wasting both of us."

"And there's no point in you throwing your life away for mine!"

"Yeah, cuz we're not allowed to sacrifice anything to keep each other alive."

"That's… did you really..." I stop talking.

"There's the shop. Let's get the tools we need and get out of here." I want to keep pressing the issue, as I'm pissed, but I know it's a bad idea. She's right… but she's an asshole. And here I thought she wasn't going to use that against me, and on the same fucking day.

We walk through the doors after only a moment and Chloe is again at the front counter. "Hey, our car broke down about a mile out from here, southeast. We were wondering if we could borrow some tools, or if you could help us out."

"Um… we can't just give you tools."

"Where and for how much can we buy tools?"

"You can buy a tool kit from the hardware store for slightly more than basic supplies. It's back in town, should cost about $40 if you know that's all you need. Or we can tow it in, minimum charge $50 without operating costs."

"Shit. Max, how much do you have? We didn't think this through." No shit, I don't know if either of us think anything through at all.

"I can check my card on an ATM, but I doubt it's anything over 50."

"You don't have to answer, it's not my business, but why are you here? This clearly isn't familiar territory for you, you're traveling light, and you look like you're on the run. You aren't criminals, are you?"

"Oh, just a road trip. We've been on the highway for only about an hour and-"

"Wait, an hour southeast? Are you from Arcadia?" Neither of us say anything, we just look at each other with a look that is clearly not confusion, but grief. "Holy shit. Uh… pardon my language. I am so, so sorry."

"Look, can you just tell us what we can do to fix our car?" Chloe snaps, then immediately softens. "Sorry, yes. It's been a long day."

"Good Lord. I… Look, I don't think I can help you without breaking policy, and I feel awful, but… I hope you guys are doing okay."

"Uh… thank you. Although, I do have a favor to ask."

The man looks uncomfortable, but still entertains Chloe. "What's up?"

"Our phones died last night, as the storm hit. Can I borrow yours to make a call?"

"Uh… yeah, yeah sure. Here." He hands Chloe the phone, and she turns to face me while typing in a number.

"I uh… guess it's time to face my demons." Without waiting for my response, she's holding the phone up to her ear. After a few seconds, she starts talking. "Holy shit, you are okay... Yeah, no, I'm okay too... I'm with Max... No, I'm sorry, I haven't seen her... I uh… hey, I know, I'm sorry… yeah, actually I do. Can you get to the auto shop in Beaver? Yeah, I promise I'm here… I know, you're right, this is pretty shitty of me after the other day, I'm sorry… I know you didn't mean it… No problem… Just a tool kit, we hit a pothole and the truck died. I think I know the issue, but I can't fix it… thank you so much, uh, David." The phone goes silent. There are tears in her eyes, and she hands the phone back to the mechanic.

"So… Is he okay?"

"No, but he's alive. He's on his way, he'll meet us outside as fast as he can, so expect it to be about 40 minutes."

"I guess that's good. Let's just go wait for him, I guess."

"Yeah… yeah."

Sitting on the curb outside, it's hard for me to not just think about the last hour. The gun, the mood swings, David, that fight… It's a lot to think about on top of everything else since this morning. I wonder if this day will ever actually end. It's just been one piece of bad news after the other, and I'm genuinely worried about this confrontation with David that awaits us. Plus, Chloe and I now haven't really spoken to each other, but this time the silence is more awkward than just due to time. Whatever, we can worry about that later. I'm just surprised that David is even willing to come help us, as he didn't really deal with what he had to deal with before I photo jumped. At least he and Chloe will get their closure, though. I couldn't give it to Joyce. Or Frank. Or… Anyone. Fuck, I can almost see the Two Whales going up in flames. Or David shooting Jefferson. Or Jefferson shooting David. Or That time Chloe shot Frank. So much death. _You're a goddamn hypocrite. You've left a trail of death and suffering behind you._ I shake my head. I can't keep letting those words into my thoughts. I mean, they were technically mine, I think. Still, they aren't what really happened. I just wanted to help, even if I didn't ask for the chance. I know I couldn't save everyone, but I tried, damn it. I saved Chloe. It has to be worth it, it has to have been what was supposed to happen. If not… if I screwed up... _Do you really think she has any feelings for us? You're just another puppet…_ No, there is no 'if not.' I ripped that damn photo up for a reason.

"Hey." Chloe says, pulling me from thought.

I look at her, and there's sympathy in her eyes. She must be well aware of how I seem to be losing it, but I'm still mad. "What?"

"No 'what's up?' Guess I deserve that. Just wanted to, you know, apologize, or something. I'm a dick. I don't feel bad about the gun thing, but… I'm a terrible person for that last thing. Just… please, understand that just like you, I'd do anything to keep my best friend from dying."

The glare fades from my face, and some tension dips. "Yeah, but you can't go around holding something like that over my head shortly after telling me that it isn't my fault and therefore am not at fault for the storm."

"You're right, Max. You're right. I fucked up, and probably just undid hours of making sure you aren't losing it or regretting your choices. I was just frustrated, it didn't seem like you were listening to me."

"Chloe, I always listen to you. I understand why you want to keep the gun, but I think it's a terrible idea."

"And I don't. But we don't… we should argue about that when we're… when we're somewhere safe. I just want to say that I won't ever even imply that your choice was wrong, or use it in any way in future arguments."

"Just don't do it so soon. We need to at least be able to talk to each other without constantly bringing ourselves right back to that one moment."

"You're right. Fuck, I'm sorry. Don't hate me?"

"Never. I know this isn't one of those things that will hang over us for months, don't worry."

"I know. It's just… you know. Hard."

"Yeah. It really is."

"So... how's it going?"

"My head hurts, but I think I'm fine."

"Max, come on. You look like you're halfway to another anxiety attack, you're not fine. Wait, define 'hurts.'"

"Too much thinking, probably not bad. And I'll try and let you know if anything goes really wrong."

"Do you want to talk about any of it?"

"No. It's too early in the day." Funny how it doesn't feel like it. It should be about two o'clock now, if I remember the clock inside that other store correctly. Yet, it feels like it's been two weeks since the storm first hit. Or several years, counting the whole week. It's just so exhausting. "What about you?"

"David should be here soon. I'm worried. I know you told me he really does care, and that he saved you, but still. It's gonna… be difficult."

"What did he tell you on the phone?"

"I heard sirens, he's helping with search and rescue. They aren't really finding anyone. He… he couldn't yet confirm if Joyce was in the diner, and he's gonna be mad we pulled him away from that. So… he doesn't know."

"Fuck. Well, I guess that makes the news of 3 probable survivors a lot less hopeful. How? How the hell does a storm kill everyone in its path? That's a death toll entirely unheard of. Especially with how several buildings weren't entirely gone."

"I… don't know. We can't deny that it has nothing to do with your powers based on coincidence alone. That doesn't mean it's your fault, but it does mean that it probably wasn't normal. Maybe it had a vendetta."

"I… sure hope not."

"Either way, we don't know. We can't know. We won't do ourselves any good working with 'what ifs.' We should probably just worry about what we do know."

"But… what do we really know?"

"That we're here. That we survived."

"The storm still won."

"I don't know for sure. Can't win if you don't have a win condition."

"That… doesn't really make sense."

"We don't know what the storm wanted. Assuming it wanted me dead, it failed. Assuming it was natural, then it really is just whatever the hell nature wanted."

"I'm not following."

"It means it doesn't matter, because it's gone and we're here."

"Oh… okay, then. I guess you're right."

"You bet your ass I am, I'm hella right." I grin stupidly, that sentence sounded more like Chloe than everything she has said in the last 6 hours. After a few seconds of me staring, she asks, "what's the smile for?"

"Oh, uh… you just… sounded like you." I say. Wait, why the fuck do I feel so flustered over that?

"I hope so, I'd be pretty pissed if my voice was suddenly different." She says, seemingly oblivious to how I reacted to her calling out my staring.

Then, there is a hand on my shoulder and a hand on Chloe's. We immediately tense up and turn to face the owner of the hands. The shock subsides a bit when I see exactly who I was expecting to see.

"Hey, Chloe. Max. You both… wow. You're both okay. Well, uh... I'm happy to see you."


	3. Chapter III: Sunshine for Everyone

Pros ta Empros

Chapter III: Sunshine for Everyone

* * *

Max knew she could never live without Chloe. But she didn't know if Chloe could ever live with her. How will Max learn to live with the consequences of her choices, can the two girls learn to live in this new world, and will they sort through their baggage to truly understand each other?

This story will follow the cannon of Life Is Strange Season 1 closely, while using some trivia from Lis: BtS and LiS2. This story is a post-sab story set immediately after the events of Episode 5, so don't read this if you somehow got here without knowing the ending of the game.

Chloe has to deal with David and several roadside issues.

* * *

"Hey, Chloe. Max. You both… wow. You're both okay. Well, uh... I'm happy to see you." David says, but there's no life behind it. I can see it in his eyes. He's lost. He's vulnerable. He's not the same person I argued with for days on end.

"It's uh, good to see you too," Chloe responds, looking at the ground. I wish I knew what she was thinking right now.

The three of us just stand there awkwardly for a moment, before David speaks up again. "I saw the truck on the way over here. We should probably get a jump on finding the problem. I have some tools, it shouldn't take long."

"Thank you, David. We really appreciate this." I say, Chloe not having looked up.

"Well, let's go then. My car is right there, We'll be back there in 5 minutes." Funny, it took us so long to get to this roadside shop. Then again, the whole concept of time kind of has been shattered.

Chloe looks over at the car that is clearly not Davids, even though that is indeed the car David pointed at. "What happened to the muscle car?"

"A tree, nothing I could do for it."

"Who's car is this?"

"No ones, not anymore." Chloe nods, understanding everything. This new one is cleaner, and way less brown, but definitely not a muscle car. Too bad I don't know much about cars, other than the fact that it's a silver sedan. We get in, Chloe and I taking the back seat, and David starts the engine.

"So, how are you two doing?" David breaks the silence.

I start. "Shaken up, obviously. Not too great."

"Fucking pothole," Chloe mutters.

"Well, if the truck won't start then that's probably just something being knocked loose."

"That's what I thought, but I can't get to anything with just fingernails."

"You're right with that assumption. Don't worry. It'll be fixed in no time, and you can be on your way. Where are you even planning on going?"

I look at Chloe, not knowing how much to say, so she continues. "Seattle, probably. Max has family there."

"You're really just going to up and leave Arcadia then? I give it to you, I thought you'd at least stay and help with search and rescue."

"Really? What could I possibly do besides get in the way of people who know what they're doing?" Uh oh. Couldn't even finish the five minute trip. I grab Chloe's forearm, and try to get her to look at me, but she's just staring ahead.

"It isn't about digging through the whole town, I figured you'd just at least help with the rubble of the Two Whales or the house." David still hasn't raised his voice, you can just tell he isn't thinking his words through clearly.

"Screw off, there's nothing to go through but dust and concrete."

"We only found a few bodies so far, though, so who's to say-"

"She's gone, okay! Whatever you're thinking, stop. She's gone. Don't pretend otherwise, because if you even had a sliver of hope you wouldn't have dropped everything to come out here!"

David is quiet for a moment. Chloe must have struck a nerve. After a sigh, though, he continues by saying, "actually, I would have. I'm here to help you, Chloe. Please, let's not spend this time arguing after everything. You're right, there's no reason to expect anything good to come from search and rescue, but you still could have stayed to help."

"We won't be doing that, David. There's no one to help." David says nothing back, and Chloe sits back again. All things considered, I think that could have gone worse. There was barely a shout, and Chloe hasn't broken into an uncontrollable crying fit. Still, the whole situation won't improve with them pushing each other away. David keeps his eyes on the road, Chloe is looking down again.

I lean over to Chloe's ear. "Hey, what do we tell David we know?"

"We only know what Victoria told us. Other than that, we sent him the barn info anonymously, so we know nothing."

"Okay, got it," I turn to David. "Hey, we got a hold of Victoria, she said you saved her from a kidnapping?"

"Yeah, I got a tip thursday night that Mark fucking Jefferson was behind the Rachel Amber case, and a location. I got a squad together as soon as I could, which was next morning, and we went in. Found her on the floor. Real fucked up situation."

"Holy shit." I force myself to whisper, acting shocked. "Jefferson? But I thought…" I trial off, not knowing where to take the bluff. Chloe picks up for me.

"The hipster trash art teacher killed Rachel? Are you fucking kidding me?" She's better at acting shocked than I am. Then, she stops acting in favor of expressing anger. "What the hell did you do with him?"

"He's in a cell at the precinct. We kept him bound while the storm passed, trying to comfort the girl. But he didn't kill Rachel. Found out it was that Prescott shithead." Oh no. I should have realized that if David and Victoria survived the dark room, that the other officers and Jefferson would have too. Oh, fuck. I put my head against the window, and cover my face with a hand.

"Nathan Prescott? Where the fuck is he?" Chloe asks, but not with hostility. She stops asking questions and puts her hand on my leg. I can't breathe, but I don't know why. I know I let David… shoot him… but I didn't want him dead. Or I thought so, anyway.

"Dead. Jefferson killed him Thursday night. We... won't be able to find the body, though. Not anymore. Now, why don't you tell me what you really know? We did make Jefferson hand everything over, I know you two were there thursday night. I know you sent that text, Max." Fuck. Not right now. I can't right now.

"Well, shit, you caught us. You knew we were doing our own work, we found the proof for you. For Rachel."

"I won't say I'm not impressed, but you should seriously never do anything like that again. I was just one day off of piecing everything together from the hotel room, you almost got yourself killed for that one day."

She did get herself killed for that one day. David's right. God, Jefferson, you sick fuck. I… I can't go back to Arcadia. Ever.

"Well Victoria is okay because of that day. Oh, hey, the truck. We're here." Great, time to play mechanic.

"Yep. Tools are in the trunk. If you need me…" I can't piece the words together anymore. "Wait, Max, what's wrong?" Words don't reach my throat.

"She's overwhelmed, probably. She'll be fine. Just needs... and breathe." Not that easy, Chloe…

"I understand, you two are probably going to have to deal with a lot of crap. You saw things people should never… wouldn't be surprised if it's PTSD. We could either... Everyone handles…" The hand on my leg is moved to my shoulder now. I hate it. His hand was…

I open the car door, and the grip on my shoulder tightens. I push it off me, and stand up. I can't hear the voices now. I start walking towards the truck, with no real goal. I'm trying to form one. I could do something. There was something that worked earlier. Something to focus on. I don't remember what it was.

I sink to my knees. Wait, but I was doing something. Running from someone. Running from Jefferson. I shake my head. No. He isn't here. I'm not running from him. I'm just… crawling. An arm goes around my back, covering me. Suffocating me. Not this time. I turn around, and swing at the man who isn't there. I blink, and Chloe is holding my wrist. Her eyes… She looks scared.

I'm scared. There's pressure on my wrists. I can't get the tape off, so I cover my face with my free hand and look down. I won't let him win. I pull my arm again, breaking free of the restraints, and fall backward. I turn around again, onto my stomach, but the arm pulls me back. It surrounds me, cutting the air from my lungs. Why is this happening? I struggle, it won't happen again. The words are in my ear. His words. All the twisted bullshit. All the threats, all the sickness and disease, all the malice. All him. And he won't let me go. I can hear the words, "I won't ever leave you."

Wait… he wouldn't say that. I open my eyes again, and look up. Chloe relaxes, leans back, her hands each on a shoulder as we each kneel on the asphalt. I blink a few times, forcing out the tears that have built up. "Oh God… Chloe..."

"I'm here. Always and forever. It's just me."

"I'm sorry."

"I know, it's okay."

"No, I'm sorry. That's twice today. I'm sorry."

"Max, I promise you it's okay. This is going to be a thing for a while, we'll work through it."

I sit there for a moment, I don't really know what to say next. I just blink at her, staring. Why does she have to have that look in her eyes? She looks like she's hearing about someone's death, like how she looked after Bongo. Or William…

"Alright, Max, we gotta fix the truck. Do you want to sit inside?"

"I… wanna help."

"I don't know what there is to help with, David will probably also be helping so I think I'll be okay."

"Then I'll just stand with you."

"Fine by me, I could use company I can stand. Which uh… can you?"

"What?"

"Stand. You good to go?"

"Yeah… I uh… think so." She offers a hand and I take it, and she pulls me up. Again. For the second time in what was probably only 3 hours, it's hard to keep track without a watch. As we walk the other 10 feet to the truck, I see David already under the hood. He turns around when we get close.

"Hey, Max, you alright?"

"I'm… very tired. But alive."

"I can see that, but it isn't really what I asked. What happened?"

"I don't really know. I just… needed the air."

"Alright. I won't press. Hey, Chloe, hand me the socket wrench please."

"You know, I do know my way around this engine better than you." Chloe responds, but still hands him the tool.

"You wanna do the work? I'd be glad to step back."

"On second thought, lemme know if you need anything. I'm gonna have a chat with Max."

"Alright then, stay close so I can call for you."

We walk off to the back of the truck, where Chloe climbs into the bed before turning around and pulling me up. Sitting inside, I rest my head on her shoulder. We stay there for about 5 minutes, David just working to figure out the problem. I only hear him attempt to start the car twice, and he hasn't called for Chloe yet.

"How's it going now?" Chloe asks, not moving.

"Better. Thanks again."

"Don't mention it, I'd stop everything to make sure you're okay."

"Thanks, Chloe. I really appreciate that."

"Your turn to not sweat it, or we'll end up promising ourselves to each other forever. Unless that's what you want."

"Oh, so you're planning on leaving?" I pick my head up and look at her, trying to make a face of curiosity instead of hurt.

"Not at all. I mean, like, well, we're gonna have to get jobs and stuff. Especially me, I can't just live off your parents."

Instant relief. But also, I can tell she still isn't being clear about what she means. "Nah, they'd totally be cool with you being around forever."

"Really? They'd probably, like, grow to hate me."

"Never, they always loved you."

"Then why did…"

"Why did what?"

"Nothing. Want any water?"

"Chloe." I make my voice stern.

"What?" She is so bad at deflecting.

"Why did they what?"

"Shit, I think David called. Wanna go see?"

"Chloe Price," I call sternly, but she's already up. Goddamnit. I will not forget this one. I hop off the bed, feeling as if we're jumping from place to place too quickly.

"So, David, figure it out?" Chloe asks, strutting up to David with a cocky attitude around her.

"I think so, but I would much appreciate it if you helped me make sure."

"I told you to call me." She says, acting as if her feelings were hurt.

"Fair. Can you check the transmission?"

"I don't think it'd be that. Hang on, what did you try?"

"Working with the wires that connect to the ignition system."

"Damn it. I thought it was just a loose wire."

"No, I think it's just a cut fuel line. Can you rev the engine so I can be sure of something?"

"Sure." She climbs into the driver seat, and revs the engine. David waves his arm, and she gets out again. "So?"

"Damnit, I was wrong. Go figure. Where is the inertia switch on this thing?" He looks up, wiping his forehead with his forearm.

"Not in the engine. I'll need a screwdriver to get to it, though, I bolted down a custom floor mat."

"Why the hell would you do that?"

"I dunno, it looked cool." Silence. "I know, I'll fix it." She heads into the passenger seat, and starts working on undoing the floor mat.

I turn to David and ask, "so, what are you going to do now?"

"Oh, I don't know. Fix up Arcadia. I owe it to the town. Sure you two won't help?"

"Sorry, David. There's nothing left of Arcadia Bay to fix," I respond.

"You don't know that," David remarks with a hollow tone.

"I've seen enough."

"Well, then I'm sorry to say that I will be focusing on the town for awhile. If you go further out than this, I can't help you or Chloe."

"I understand. But we need to go."

"Fine. Just… be careful out there," he resigns.

"We will. Thank you. And, hey, can I ask you one thing?"

"Sure. What is it, Max?"

"Don't ever let him escape."

"Jefferson? Don't worry. He'll never see daylight again. Although with the destruction of the town, the court may take a long time to get anywhere."

"As long as he never hurts anyone else. And tell Victoria to contact us, when we get our phones charged."

"Will do. Just make sure you and Chloe stay-" He's cut off by Chloe starting the truck up, successfully. I see her practically jump in her seat, and she claps once in a fit of triumph.

"Let's go! We did it!" She walks over to David and I. "Alright. Thank you, David. I, uh… appreciate all of this."

"I'm sure of it. Just consider coming back to Arcadia at some point?"

"I might."

"Chloe, our entire lives are there."

"Your life was. Mom's was. But mine won't be. I'm sorry, David, but Arcadia is not my home. And I'm sure it isn't Max's anymore, either."

I interrupt with a, "Arcadia was a home, but it was destroyed," but I don't think anyone heard me.

"I understand the issues you two had to deal with, and I know I'm part of the reason you always wanted to leave. But there are people there whose lives can be rebuilt," David pleads.

"As if the death toll isn't the population." Chloe's voice is again filled with sarcasm.

"Chloe. We don't know that. There can still be survivors." David practically pleads.

"Well Mom isn't one of them. Nothing else matters." Chloe turns away, looking down.

"Chloe… I'm sorry we don't see eye to eye about this."

She looks back at him, and says, "me too, David. Me too." There is silence for a moment, and Chloe turns to me. "Alright Max, get ready. We still have, like, a four hour trip on our hands."

"Alright," I respond, "Just uh… finish up here, I'm good to go."

"I think I'm good," she nods. She turns to David again. "Are we good?"

"I suppose so. Good luck, you two. I gotta go back to town, now. Relief camps are already all over. There are survivors, believe it or not."

"Goodbye, David," Chloe says with sternness. Truth be told, he isn't getting us any closer to turning around, and Chloe is clearly annoyed with his attempts.

"Goodbye." David turns around and heads back to the 'not his muscle car,' while Chloe and I climb back into the truck. As Chloe starts the car, I see David stare at us for a few seconds before shaking his head, and driving off. He… probably isn't happy with our decision to head off. I can't help but feel bad for him, he really did just lose everything. Still, Chloe did too. There really wasn't anything there for her. As for me, I really only went back for… Jefferson… but the only thing that really matters now is Chloe. I wonder if anything survived the dorms…

"Alright, time to hit the road," Chloe says as the engine starts. She hits the gas, and we start back into Beaver. The trip is even quicker this time, or so it feels. Except, it slows down drastically after we get past the auto shop again. Back on track, except now it's somewhere between 1 and 3 pm and we still have a several hour trip to go. I'm so glad there are road signs for people without the convenience of a phone GPS. Just a few hours, and we make it to Seattle. I look over at Chloe, realizing she hasn't said much as of late.

"So, what now?" I ask her.

"I dunno. We keep going, we stop if we have to."

"I mean like, what are you doing? How are you feeling?"

"Tired, Max. What am I supposed to feel? Happy that I got to talk to David?"

"No… Sorry, Chloe. I just want to-"

"It's okay, really. It's just… gonna take a while. What about you? Still freaking?"

"Please stop trying to deflect everything."

"I'm not trying to do anything other than make sure you're still doing fine."

"We do enough talking about me. The only time I get to know what you're thinking is when we're arguing."

"Sorry, Max, I just don't feel like talking about how utterly awful this day is going."

"You think I don't know that?"

"I think you're not being very accepting of my not wanting to describe my feelings. Everyone handles things their own way."

"Shutting down isn't handling anything."

"Alright, then let's handle stuff. How are you doing after the anxiety attack earlier?"

"Chloe, stop."

"What? I'm trying to talk."

"No, stop ignoring me and actually listen!" I recoil immediately, not wanting to raise my voice. "Just… tell me what's going through your head."

She sighs, and starts slowly. "I didn't have much there, but what I did have is gone now. And I feel lost. That's about it. Happy?"

I sigh, happy that she at least said something. "We're… gonna be lost for a while. But we'll figure it out, I promise."

"At least you have something waiting for you."

"Chloe, I'm waiting for you."

"I know, and I'm grateful, but… why?"

"Because you're my number one priority now."

"Yeah, I know. But why?" She asks, putting emphasis on the 'why.'

"It's… because I care about you. A lot."

Chloe doesn't say anything, probably because we both know it'll just be a continuation of 'why.' She does change the subject again, though, asking, "What about you? You haven't talked about the Jefferson thing in any detail."

"I… guess that's fair. I told you I was drugged. You know about the pictures. That was largely it, though. Just… binds and needles."

"Yeah, I… figured. I'm sorry I wasn't there for you."

"You're here now, just please don't get yourself killed again."

"I won't. Wouldn't even think of it."

"Alright, you better."

"Promise."

"Good." That's it for the conversation, and nothing else really comes for a while. We just end up staring ahead. After a bit, I get an urge to take Chloe's hand again, but I probably shouldn't. Wouldn't want her to be concerned as to why I keep doing it. I don't think she'd mind though, unless it's just annoying while she's driving. Yeah, probably should let her focus. Although she can focus and talk… But she might need both hands, so I'll just let her focus on the road.

* * *

It's been quite a few hours now, mostly nothing. There were a few small conversations here and there, we talked about the scenery of Portland for a while, but it was all meaningless. It's been a long time, now. Probably had 30 minutes left of daylight, judging by the sun. Which means it's almost 6. Usually, this wouldn't be a problem. However, today has not been the most normal of days, so things can never just always work.

"Damnit Chloe! Pull over!" I shout, my voice racing.

"It's fine, we only swerved a bit." A bit. Right. You only almost slammed us into that oncoming truck.

"Pull over before you get us killed!" I'm struggling to stay calm, it clearly isn't working.

"Fine!" Chloe shouts, pulling over suddenly. "Happy now?"

"Chloe did you sleep at all? That's the third time you almost passed out while driving."

"I can sleep soon, we can be there in 2 hours." She said, wiping her eyes.

"Not if we're dead. If you don't want to stop, then let me drive."

"Very funny, Max." She doesn't even look over.

"I'm serious."

"You can't drive without a license."

"Then we go to a motel, you can't drive without sleep." There is genuine pleading in my voice.

She seems to think it over for a bit, before starting the truck up again and saying, "fine, we'll be at one in… a few minutes."

"There's one right off the next exit, see the sign?"

"Yeah, yeah. Let's go." She's struggling to keep herself focused. Did she really not rest at all while we were in the lighthouse?

We pull off the exit, Chloe turning the truck too sharply, and pull into a motel lot a few moments later. As we get out of the car, we see a man in the window glaring at us. It's not exactly a warm welcome. We head inside, and Chloe walks up to the counter.

"Hey, I'll take the cheapest thing you have."

"How many nights?" There is a slight hint of hostility in the man, and he seems as if he'd rather be anywhere else than here. The attitude is concerning. We just got here, what's the problem?

"Just one."

"That'll be $67, your room will be door 13. Wifi password is on the key ring. Here you go."

"Uh… thanks." Chloe whispers, taking the keys. We walk over and start looking for the right room. This place is… really crappy. The carpet is stained, the wallpaper is old and faded, and there are a few missing light bulbs. I guess you get what you pay for.

We walk inside, and the decor is faring no better than the lobby. It's all old and run down, but we aren't paying for royalties.

"Here we are. Happy to be off the streets?" Chloe asks, making an exaggerated gesture at the mess.

"Chloe, you should get some rest."

"It's not even seven." She says matter-of-factly.

"And you've been up for who knows how long. Please."

"It's only been… 40 hours. I've gone longer," she shrugs, "plus, we are off the road."

"Fine, but that just means we're stuck here longer."

"Whatever, we got nothing but time."

"That's not funny."

"What?" She asks, then reflects on what she said. "Oh. Sorry."

"It's fine," I say, and I go to plug in the charge Chloe bought at that grocery store, where we did not get any groceries. Plugging my phone in, I go to turn on the tv. Chloe walks over the the mini fridge in the corner, opens it, and starts talking about how she is surprised it's even running.

"Wow, with how ass this thing is, this little thing is a miracle."

"Well, that's one thing." I say, adjusting the tv cables so it actually plays sound.

"Watch ya gonna watch?" Chloe asks, sitting down on the mini-sofa with a bottle of water.

"Probably just the news," I say, picking up my phone. I turn it on, careful not to unplug it so it doesn't immediately die again. I'm immediately flooded with tons of notifications from different people. There are texts from Kate, Victoria, my parents, and numerous failed service alerts. I should probably call all of them… but for some reason I'm finding it hard to entertain the idea.

"Well, I won't tell you what to do, but maybe skip on news for now."

"You're probably right," I say, turning straight to the news channel anyway. I am not at all surprised to see news coverage of Arcadia Bay. No one understands what's going on, it's been 12 hours since the storm cleared and little progress has been made. It can be difficult to clean up whale carcasses, apparently. So far, the death count is twelve hundred people. The missing count is thirty hundred. That's… eight hundred confirmed survivors, about, if I remember correctly. That's… not a lot. Not at all. I'm finding it hard to take my eyes off the screen, but I know Chloe is no longer next to me. A few seconds later, I feel her hand on my back shoulder.

"Hey, sun's setting. Isn't it that fancy time?"

"Yeah, it's fancy time."

"What's it called, again?"

"The golden hour," I answer instantly, while my mind drifts back to the alternate time.

"That's the one. Hey, where's the camera?"

"The truck."

"Why?"

"Chloe, I don't want anything to do with pictures right now."

"Oh. Yeah, okay." She looks out the window, watching the sun. I keep my focus on the tv. It's… probably not healthy. But I don't know what else to do, so I stare down the consequences of my actions. That's better than running, right? Better than ignoring it? I hope so, anyway. But… it doesn't matter, not really. It still happened, whether I face it or not. Everyone is still gone…

Chloe is back behind the couch. "Alright, Imma go smoke. You good here?"

"Yeah."

"M'kay. See ya in five," she says, walking to the end table. She turns the tv off with the remote, and leaves. Guess I really shouldn't be torturing myself. I pick my phone up, and dial my mom. It only rings once.

"Good heavens, Max, is that really you?"

"Yeah, hi mom." I say, without any of the excitement she has.

"Oh, good lord, I was so worried, you weren't answering, I saw the news, and I just thought, your father was worried wick, we were getting ready to drive down and-"

"Mom, it's okay. I'm… safe."

"But Blackwell is gone… and your dorm… where are you?"

"I'm actually at a motel right now. I'm… on my way over. My phone was dead until now. Sorry."

"Oh, Maxie… where are you specifically? I'll come get you."

"It's fine, I'm with Chloe."

"Chloe Price? You two are talking again?"

"Yeah, it's a really long story. But… we're on our way. That's okay, right? You're okay if she's with me?"

"Yeah, of course. Are you sure you two don't need us? We can come down right now."

"I'm sure, I'll be there early tomorrow."

"Okay, thank God for that. I was so… scared."

"I know, I'm sorry."

"You don't have to say sorry, it isn't your fault this just… happened."

Well… it kind of is…

"I know, mom."

"Good. Just make sure you keep that in mind. So… is it just you and Chloe?"

"Yeah. Joyce… didn't make it."

"Oh… oh Max, I'm so sorry… Joyce was… a great person…"

"Yeah… she really was," I start to choke on my words. She's really gone.

"I… Please be safe out there, Max, wherever you are."

"I will, I promise. I'm sorry mom, I have to go. I love you."

"You sure? I understand. I love you, Max. Come home to me, please."

"I will, goodbye, mom." I hang up, and set the phone back down. Putting my head in my hands, I feel the tears start flowing through my fingers. Goddamnit, why the hell does this have to be so awful? I mean, why did it have to go this way? It's not fucking fair, I didn't ask for this. I didn't ask for any of this. I just wanted to go to school and learn more about photography, and now I'll never be able to touch a damn camera again. And it's all because I killed 4,000 people using powers I never wanted in the first place. I didn't want to be here!

I hear the door open on my left. "Hey, Max, I'm back, how- holy shit, not again." She runs over, and sits next to me. "Max? You there?"

"Yeah, hi Chloe," I sit back, wiping a few tears from my face. "What's up?"

"What's up with me?" She asks, rhetorically. "What happened to _you_?"

"Nothing, I just killed thousands of people."

"No, you didn't, Max. You didn't."

"It's hard to think I didn't."

"I know." She sets her arm across my back, pulling me in. "Trust me, I know."

"Chloe… I don't know what I'm going to do."

"We'll figure it out."

"How do we figure this out? We know nothing about what happened this past week."

"I don't know, we just keep moving."

"How? Chloe, I watched you get shot three times. My idol fucking drugged me. I almost watched Kate jump off a building. I watched people die again, and again, because I wasn't good enough. I have powers I can never tell anyone about. I don't know how to live with this. I don't know what to do!"

"I don't either, Max. I don't know how we keep going. But we will."

"I know, Chloe. We keep going. Together. But at what cost? What is it going to take for us to just fucking stay alive? Hell, we didn't even stay out of trouble today, between those thugs and your gun. God, we're just having the same conversations over and over again."

"And we will keep having them, if that's what it takes."

"What if it takes too much? What happens if something happens to you again? I can't not bring you back."

"Yeah… I'm kind of worried about that, not gonna lie."

"Exactly. Chloe, I killed 4,000 people to keep you with me. And the worst part is that I'll do it again in a heartbeat. For you. But I don't know how to live with myself, knowing that about me."

"I get it, Max. It's… terrifying to know what you would do for someone."

"Not what I could do, what I _did_ do. What I _will_ do. Chloe… I'm scared of myself."

"Max, I understand. I think… I think I'd do the same for you."

Yeah… like shooting Frank, if you had too…

"Why would you?"

"Because I care about you. This 'number one priority' thing works both ways."

"But would you kill my mom for me?"

"Don't do that, Max."

"I killed Joyce…"

"No, damnit Max, the storm killed Joyce. Not you and your powers, not me and my asking you to use them. It was the storm."

"That I caused."

"That was out of our control."

"But was it?"

"We'll never know."

"Unless I have to save you again."

"Maybe… I don't need to be saved."

"Then Arcadia was for nothing."

"Damnit Max, listen to me. You didn't do that."

"Yes, I did! Stop bullshitting yourself! I killed them, Chloe! I killed them. All of them…"

"Max, you saved me."

"I know, but-"

"No, Max. You saved my goddamn life. A life that few people gave two shits about. You gave a shit, and you made a choice. You saved me. I'd do the same for you."

"That's… not healthy. We shouldn't say things like this."

"But unlike everyone else, we got the chance to prove it. Whether that makes us bad people, or people just trying to survive, you proved that you give a shit about me. You gave us a chance to keep going."

"But it took-"

"Yeah, it cost too much. We paid a price, Max, but we didn't know it was there. What matters is how we go from here. And we can't risk trying to bring everyone back, so we just need to move forward."

"Yeah, I know. But it doesn't matter. We can go forward, but we'll be empty. It won't really be living."

"No, the living will come. First, we just have to survive. And we will survive."

"That's not what I'm worried about. I'm worried about the next time I have to save your life."

"Well, don't worry. I'm gonna do things differently now, I won't get myself in trouble anymore."

"That's not what you said earlier."

"Look, the thing with the gun was for you. We need to be here for each other. We stay out of trouble until we're in it, then we get out of it."

"It's not that simple."

"I know, I'm fully aware of the risk I took earlier today. But it was risking you, which I couldn't do."

'I… I know." The sick feeling starts to fade.

"Good. Just making sure. We're stuck protecting each other now."

"Okay…"

Chloe and I fall silent. She seems to want to say something, but decides against it. Instead, she stands up. "Alright, come on. We gotta get to bed."

"Okay." I stand up, and we walk towards the bed. Chloe grabs a pillow, and turns around. "Where are you going"

"There's only one bed."

"Oh, shut up and take the bed. I'll take the couch."

Chloe pauses for a moment, and then I see a little life return to her eyes. "Fuck it, we both used my bed a few days ago, this one is just smaller."

"I guess that's fine," I say, feeling a falter in my voice. Why do I feel weird about this? I stopped feeling sick five minutes ago. Whatever, it doesn't matter. I know I should tell her about how I… feel weird sometimes, but I don't think it's the best idea. I mean, she did dare me to kiss her… but then she pulled away and joked about it. She definitely didn't expect me to do it. So why did she ask?

I shake my head, and just decide to lay down. Chloe joins me immediately, since our shortage of clothes means we'll just change in the morning. Staring at the ceiling, I start to wonder if I should say- or do- anything. Would she mind if I got closer? The space is pretty tight. I dunno, maybe I'll just stay like this.

"Hey, Max?" Chloe whispers, turning towards me.

"Yeah?"

"So why am I your number one priority?"

"Oh, uh… I don't really know. You're just… my best friend." And maybe more…?

"Really? How did that happen in five days?"

"I don't think it was the five days. I don't think it ever stopped."

"Then… why did you stop answering my texts?"

"Because… I thought you'd be better off without me. I mean, I thought you'd grown to hate me."

"Well… I did." Ouch. "But it didn't last, clearly."

"Clearly. So… why am I yours?"

"Pfft, who said you're mine?"

"Damnit, Chloe, not what I mean." I say, hoping she can't see the blush on my face. I'm surprised there's humor right now, I expected this to be a lot… darker.

"I know, I'm just kidding, Sherlock. Let's see… I dunno, I think it's pretty obvious that we'll always be bffs, even if things get rocky sometimes."

"Yeah… I'm sorry about that, Chloe."

"You've apologized enough for that."

"I guess so…"

"Yep."

The silence is back, and I hate it. Silences suck. I turn around and look Chloe in the eyes. Surprisingly, she smiles. I smile back at her, wondering if I should say something, but decide against it. Despite the mess in her hair and tired eyes, there is hope and life in her eyes. They close, her smile fades, and over the next three minutes her breathing quickly becomes regular. It's… peaceful. A stark contrast to the hell of the day we just went through. Usually, night is the time where things are the worst, where I'm reminded of just how awful things can be. But right now, all I see is her. It's a beautiful sight to see.


End file.
